Tales of the Shepherds
by The Night Gaunt
Summary: No matter how big war may be, it's the little moments that make one care about it, and the people fighting it. A series of one-shots and drabbles about the shepherds throughout the story,
1. Before I wake

**Summary:** On their way to Southtown, Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick discuss different subjects.

* * *

Night was about to end over the fields of Yllise.

The first light of the sun was starting to appear over the horizon, making the sky turn from a dark gray to an increasingly lighter blue. A set of roads crossed the land, and on the side of one the roads, three figures laid on the grass, slowly stirring from the fading darkness.

The midsummer night of Ylisse was warm and slightly breezy, which meant it was perfectly adequate for sleeping on the open field under the stars, something that suited our travelers.

But these were no regular travelers, for they were none than Prince Chrom and his younger sister Lissa, both followed by their retainer and loyal knight Frederick.

Frederick was the first to wake, quickly getting up and perform some quick stretches to wake himself up before starting his duties. The bags on his horses contained some food he could cook along with some tea leaves he could boil with a fire.

By heavens, he loved that last part.

The sound of his rustling about quickly woke Chrom, who was a little slower than him in getting up. The same proactivity was not shared by his younger sister, who was placidly sleeping on her small blanket. Chrom gently nudged her, hoping to wake her up.

"Ngnuuuu…" was all she mumbled before she turned away from him. Deciding to let her sleep for a bit more, Chrom sat next to Frederick, eager to eat the food he had prepared. The knight had already managed to start cooking breakfast over a slightly bigger than necessary fire.

"Smells good Frederick."

"I aim to please my lord."

Silence fell once again between the two men, with the only sounds being the chewing of food and the occasional snore from Lissa. Chrom smiled as he saw his sister smile in her dreams. Frederick sighed and stoked the fire a little bit.

"I believe Lady Lissa should be woken now," he said.

"Let Lissa sleep a little longer, Frederick. It's her first mission as a shepherd."

"All the more reason for her to wake up my lord," he replied. "She should be vigilant and ready in case of an attack. We are heading to deal with bandits after all.

Chrom surveyed the land around them. It was still dark around them, but there was enough light to make a quick study of their surroundings. He could see what it seemed to be a horse walking on the distance, but other than that and the sound of a couple of birds. Even with the lingering darkness around them, he could see that they were completely alone.

"I would agree with you if there was actually something on this field. But I don't see a single soul around us." Chrom continued. "In fact, I don't see anything around us at all. You would think that there would be some more critters around these parts."

"I do believe that we are near a town, and its barely dawn, so it's natural that people would not be up yet. But I do agree with you in regards to the local critters. There is an uncanny lack of life around us. It was the same when I went on my patrol before going to sleep."

Chrom turned to face to him as Frederick gave him his plate.

"You went on a patrol in the middle of the night?"

"I checked the surrounding area in case there were thieves in the area. I also made sure to scare any possible wild animal that might come this way."

"Thank you, Frederick, that was -" Chrom said.

"Also I removed most of the gravel and large rocks of the road ahead so that our journey starts with a comfortable road."

"That is….very prolific of you."

"I also repaired some of the holes on your cape."

Chrom just stared at the knight, wondering when did he have time to sleep, if he slept at all. Concern grew inside of him as he the thought that Frederick might be pushing himself too hard entered his head. He made a mental note to speak to him about later once they were finished with the whole Southtown business. It was at that time that Lissa began to stir a little before sitting on her blanket. Her hair was loose and her mouth had some drool on its side.

"Morning…" she slurred as she stood up and approached the fire, Frederick quickly preparing a small plate for her, which the princess accepted with a sleepy smile. By now the sun was beginning to show its face over the mountains, bathing the fields with its light. A few birds flew over them, chirping happily. Noticing this, Frederick stood up and began putting everything away and the fire out.

Lissa was watching all this as she ate her breakfast, and stopped chewing once she saw Chrom follow Frederic's actions with his own things.

"Are going to start so soon?" she asked with her mouth full.

"First, finish what's in your mouth before talking. Two, yes we are." Chrom explained. "Southtown is about half a day away. If we are lucky, we'll get there just in time for lunch."

"We are actually behind schedule my lady," added Frederick as he finished putting everything away.

"I didn't know it was sooooo urgent" Lissa ate one final spoonful before handing the empty plate to Frederick, who gave her a disapproving look.

"When out people's lives and livelihood are in danger, it's _always_ urgent Lissa." Chrom chided her as he placed the Falchion at his side. A pang of guilt hit Lissa before she stood up and began preparing herself to continue their journey, which they soon were. The sun now was in full view and the field was completely covered in its light. Nearly an hour went in silence before Lissa broke the silence.

"So...what is the plan when we get there?"

"Reports say that bandits have been praying on the outside of Southtown, and apparently they are getting bolder." Chrom answered." So we are gonna go there, see how many of them are and put a stop to their attacks."

"Just the three of us?"

"The shepherds are not exactly overstaffed, my lady," Frederick replied. "Protecting the land already has us spread thin, and the bandits have made this situation worse."

"Shouldn't we start recruiting more people then?¿Get some more helping hands?"

"Unfortunately, the other nobles wouldn't appreciate it. Emmeryn would certainly be against it." added her brother. "Besides, we are more than enough to deal with a few bandits." he finished with a confident smile.

"Why would Emm be against it?!" Lissa complained. "We're trying to protect the people!"

"Lady Emmeryn has always been against violence. She feels that by increasing the number of our army Ylisse would give the impression of rearming itself." was the answer from the knight.

"¿But aren't bandits a good reason to get more knights?"

"I don't think Emmeryn realizes the urgency." Chrom sighed. "Maybe if she wasn't so obsessed with giving off the image of peace to the nobles and the people of Ylisstol she would see the reality of the countryside."

"If I may be so bold my lord." Frederick replied with a slight force in his voice." It is thanks to Lady Emmeryn's work and sacrifices that we have the prosperity that we have today, not just in Ylisstol, but all of the country. And the people know this.

Chrom stared at him and blinked a couple of times before chuckling. "You are right Frederick. I'm just a little frustrated. We could be doing some much more if we just had some more resources available."

After this, silence returned to the group. As they continued to approach the town, the trees became fewer in number, eventually stopping appearing as small forests and instead of showing up as individual trees, all accompanied by the occasional small bush. All this meant that now seeing the distance left was increasingly easier, to the point that Frederick could start to see the houses of Southtown from atop his horse.

That's when Lissa noted the bags on the ground.

"Wha...check this out!" she said as she picked one of the three leather bags, lying on the road, with two on the center while the third was near the edge of the road. They weren't big and didn't seem to contain a lot of objects inside of them. As she opened the bag, she was disappointed to find that the only things in it were a few silver coins. The other bag only held a few fruits and what seemed to be dry meat.

"Well, that's disappointing," she commented. Chrom walked to the third bag. It was then that it noticed that the bag was leaking a black liquid, with a small amount of it pooling right next to it. Crouching next to it, Chrom opened the bag and pulled the contents.

"A broken bottle of ink and a couple of stained letters….barely legible," he noted as he stood up, taking the letters with him. The ink was now dry and a bit sticky, which didn't help the condition of the papers, one of which was visibly old. Feeling it was important, Chrom carefully folded the letters and placed them inside a small pouch on his belt. Frederick took the other two bags and placed them in one of the bags of his horse.

"I wonder how they got here," Lissa commented as they continued on their way. Chrom's thoughts briefly returned to the horse he had seen earlier and briefly wondered if it had something to do with the bags they just found. While he had not seen any rider on the animal, it was too dark at the time to see something like a seat on the back of the horse.

The small stop was quickly left behind both physically and mentally with the journey continuing with no further incident, save from a small encounter with a group of warthogs and their caretakers, but that went by just as quick.

"We should be arriving at the town in a couple of hours" Chrom stated. "We should have lunch now so that we can focus on the bandits when we get there."

"Sounds like a good idea my lord, I'll start a fire immediately and-"

"Chrom!" Lissa shouted, pointing further down the road. "There's someone fainted farther ahead!"

And indeed, laying on the side of the road laid a man, dressed in a rather large dark robe that covered most of the rest of his clothes and a hood covering his head and face. Chrom quickly noticed that he was breathing. While he didn't seem hurt in any visible way

"Chrom, we have to do _something…._" Lissa said.

"What do you propose we do?" Chrom answered.

"I...I dunno..." Lissa exclaimed. She was about to say something else when the man groaned with a sore voice, grabbing her attention. She leaned, talking with a soft voice. "Hey there…"

"I see you are awake now," Chrom said with a smile. The man blinked a couple of times as he woke up. Chrom continued. "There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know..."

* * *

These are individual stories, but they share the same canon unless stated otherwise.

This one happens right before the prologue of the story.

Of course, I appreciate any constructive criticism you may have, or if you have any suggestion for a story as a request, I'm also open for it.


	2. Where you go, I go

**Summary: **After the war, Lucina makes a choice.

* * *

It was night in Yllise. The second half of summer was now in full effect, with days getting slightly shorter dawn by dawn. The war had taken its toll on the country and the world, with entire cities and towns needing rebuilding, farms lands resown and wounds heal.

Not to mention all the things and lives that had been lost that could never be regained.

But it didn't matter. Not tonight.

After all the pain, suffering and destruction they brought, Grima had been defeated, Validar had been killed and the land was peaceful once again. A lot of restoration needed to be done and work would continue for years to come, but the worse had been averted thanks to the efforts of the shepherds.

So now they celebrated. Celebrated their victory. Celebrated the friendship they with each other. Celebrated the love that many had found and the lives that they would share, along with the lives of those who would join them soon enough.

All of Yllistol celebrated.

Almost everybody.

Lucina stood in the yards of the barracks. With a lantern on hand, she headed towards and entered the armory, walking through yard first. Opening the door, she briefly worried about all the noise she was making as the door creaked loudly, but her concerns were quickly abated when a firework went off in the distance. All of the city was celebrating. What had she to worry about now?

Rummaging through the armory, it took her a few minutes to find what she was looking for. A knife, a blade sharpener and some other equipment necessary to maintain the light armor she usually wore. She would need them for the journey ahead.

She was probably not coming back after all. Not in a long time.

She placed her items in a bag she carried after tying a belt with the knife around her hip, making sure the knife was on her lower back. With that scratched off the list, she grabbed her lantern and left the armory, heading now towards the mess hall and kitchen. While the barracks were a bit different from her timeline, no doubt thanks to her interference, the basic outline was the same, and so she had little trouble in locating her objective.

"_Three days worth of food. Should be enough to last until the next town." _she thought as she placed her bag on a table and began rummaging through the kitchen. Just as she grabbed the last thing she needed, a water-filled leather bag, she accidentally knocked a medium sized pot, alongside the small pile of pots on which it rested. Metal clanged loudly as she froze. Once the cacophony stopped, Lucina didn't dare to move a muscle and actually held her breath for a few seconds, until she confirmed that the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat.

Releasing her held breath, she grabbed her bag and quickly left the kitchen. As she returned to the yard, she turned the lantern off, placed it on a table, alongside a letter and headed towards the gates of the barracks, which she had intentionally left ajar.

Only it wasn't ajar. It was completely open, giving her a full view of the city. Red and yellow lights covered the city. And even from here she could some of the celebrations, although muffled from the distance, as the main barracks of the shepherds in the city stood just a little lower on the hill that it shared with the castle.

Her surprise prevented from making the logical conclusion until it was too late.

"And where are you going?" a voice said from the gate. Lucina snapped out of her stupor and walked outside the barracks. And sure enough, standing outside was her most important companion.

Yarne did not look happy. But not unhappy either. If Lucina had to describe his expression in the darkness, it would be confusion.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I noticed you disappeared from the party in the castle, so I followed you," he answered. "I wouldn't have found you if you hadn't made so much noise in there."

Damn it.

"I'm going away Yarne," Lucina answered. "The fight is not over yet."

"What are you talking about? Grima's dead, we won!" he countered.

"Bandits are still roaming all over, taking advantage of the chaos, not to mention the anarchy that now reigns in Plegia. Somebody has to do something. Someone who is not bound the laws of Yllise." She walked passed him, heading towards the road. "Someone like me."

"So you are just gonna leave like that? Your parents? Your sister?" he briefly paused. "Me?"

Lucina stopped and sighed. She knew they wouldn't understand at first, that they would ask themselves what happened, or if they did or didn't do something in particular. But they would understand it in time.

At least, that's what she told herself when she wrote the letter.

"Yarne. Just like you said, we won. It may take a while, but peace will return." Lucina turned to face him with a smile. "You no longer need to battle and live in fear. You can stay here and be safe."

"I don't care about that!" Yarne shouted, shocking Lucina. "I care about us. I care about you."

The silence was Lucina's only answer, which Yarne took as his cue to continue.

"Back in our world I...I was a coward, only trying to stay for one more day, but you fought for more...you fought for a future." he continued. "You even managed to drag us along to another world."

"You chose to do that…" Lucina said softly, but Yarne continued.

"It doesn't matter, because in this world I...was still a coward. I ran from battles and from you guys." Yarne slumped his shoulders briefly but regained his spirits with his next words. "Until you noticed me. And insisted on protecting me."

Lucina chuckled at those days.

"And it is because of that I grew stronger because I tried to protect you too. I… I wanted to make sure you were okay too. And...and that's why I am here now." He walked forward, stopping right in front of Lucina.

"It is you who doesn't have to carry the weight of the world by yourself anymore. The shepherds are here. Your family is here." He to her hands in his. "And I am here. I love you Lucina, and where you go, I follow, because you also deserve to enjoy this world that we fought for."

If it had not been night, Yarne would have been able to see the blushing on Lucina's face. She took a deep breath and looked at Yarne in his brown eyes.

"If you come with me, you will be in danger. We will travel land fighting evil."

"I'm...aware of that."

"There will battles and fights all over. I don't know when we will return."

"But we _will _return. Because we will find a safe haven. Together."

Lucina smiled, chuckled a couple of times. No other words were necessary as the two of the left the barracks and disappeared into the city.

* * *

Here's the next one!

This one happens right at the very end of the story, playing with Lucina and Yarne's couple ending.


	3. She cried in the past

**Summary**: Lucina deals with herself.

* * *

Lucina was not the most emotional of persons.

Even before her world had gone up in flames, she was a rather serious child. But then the nightmare began and tragedies began piling up. Necessity had forced her into a rather permanent stoicism with occasional flashes of fury to maintain morale. Both for her people and herself.

Especially for herself.

So when she crossed through time and arrived in the past to save the future, she was surprised to find herself feeling a rather wide arrange of sensations when she had arrived in the past. She could hardly hear her thoughts over her heartbeat and nerves when she rescued her aunt and met her Father. The words that flowed from her lips had somehow managed to come out clean and clear, even if in her head she felt as if she had a cotton ball in her mouth.

That wasn't to say that she was no longer herself. She still had a mission and she was going to see it through, no matter the cost. So, with that in mind, she steeled herself and went on with her journey.

But the rush of new sensations continued the more time she spent in the past. Not having to look over her shoulder everyday left her feeling peaceful, yet the smallest unexpected sound, whether it being her mother falling from her mount or even small crickets would bring the tension to an all-time high, leaving her ready to draw her blade at a moments notice.

She had drawn it during the second war council with Robin and Frederick when Ricken had barged into the tent unannounced. The frazzled young mage quickly explained himself and left the tent, leaving her tense and feeling foolish. Her father's laugh at the situation did little to diminish her embarrassment, even if she knew that he meant no offense.

It wasn't all bad though. Ironically for her, her mission to save the future gave her more free time than she had ever had. No longer being in a constant fight for survival, she could walk around the camp and talk to people, learning little details and trivia that in the future would be deemed unimportant. Or try to at least. It seemed that small talk wasn't her strong point. But that was alright. The best way to describe the shepherds, other than loyal to a fault, it would be quirky.

Some more than others.

However, her friends from the future had managed to adapt, with their help and the help of the shepherds from the past so had she. The toll of years of battle and hardship were slowly lessened and, while not forgotten, became more bearable. The tension and extremes of the early days of her arrival softened.

She stopped trying to survive and began to live.

So, with all psychological untangling, it was unsurprising that her tears would flow more often, what with her allowing herself to feel more. Even then, she didn't cry often, but she did, what was surprising were the _reasons_ she would tear up, as well as the six occasions it happened.

The first time she had cried in years was when she revealed her true identity to her Father. All the suffering, fear and pain that had accumulated up over the years broke through the dam of that she had built around her, and Lucina allowed herself to openly sob in the arms of her Father. It was loud and messy and some would even say a bit out of character for a serious and determined warrior like herself.

It was also the lightest that Lucina had felt in a very long time.

The second time was when amid a battle, her beloved sister Cynthia had been shot with an arrow in the back. After a tense week of not knowing if she would live or die, let alone be able to continue fighting, she cried tears of relief when she was told that her beloved little sister would make a full if painfull and slow recovery. The tears did not stop when Cynthia woke up and gave her the radiant smile that she was known for, letting her know that heroes always won. Eventually.

Lucina started believing that after that day.

The third time was when Yarne declared his love for her. She had seen him before. Seen his fear and, eventually, his self-loathing. But then she saw him grow braver. Grow wiser. While he would never jump into conflict, he would never run away again. Would never desert his allies and friends. And he would never abandon her. It wasn't the fact that loved her that made her cry, but that he proudly confessed that it was her courage that inspired him to be braver and that it was about time that he protected her.

It was a small thing if one thought about it, but for Lucina, it was like a balm on her heart.

The fourth time was when Noire died. Admittedly, they weren't that close. But still, when not possessed by her inner demons, Noire was a pleasurable company. A fragile flower that had suffered a hard life, and yet had managed to bloom beautifully despite the thorns of the times around her, enough to go with her to save the past. And yet it was the past that she was trying to save that killed her when a valmese soldier managed to close enough to her to slice her throat open. Tears flowed from her eyes as she returned to camp, not of sadness, but anger. Anger at the irony. Anger at the unfairness.

It was with those tears that Lucina swore to herself that she would not lose one more friend.

The fifth time was the worst one, and if there was one moment in her whole life that Lucina was ready to throw in the towel, it was this one.

Validar had revealed that he was Robin's father, manage to possess him into giving the Fire Emblem to him, thus taking what was essentially their trump card and almost killed them all right then and there.

But Lucina didn't cry.

Then Lucina had managed to all but destroy her friendship with Robin when she tried to murder in a rash attempt at saving her Father, who ironically stopped her in the nick of time. From then on Robin only approached her to prepare for a battle and nothing more.

But Lucina wouldn't cry.

And then Grima was resurrected. Lucina had one purpose. She had fought a war _twice_ for said purpose. She had traveled through _time _for it. She had lost _friends_ and _loved ones_ because of _it_.

And now her purpose was flying above her.

Hating her.

_Mocking her. _

The shepherds managed to retreat towards a safe space since Grima deemed them unimportant enough to leave without killing them immediately. But Lucina didn't notice that. She didn't notice much at the moment. She didn't feel her body marching with the army. She didn't feel herself stumbling now and then, as if her body was made of lead. She didn't even feel herself enter her tent and lay down on her back once it was set up.

Now Lucina was too numb to cry.

She didn't know how much time it had passed. She didn't care. Enough that the light of the sun was almost completely gone, replaced with a deep orange hue but she didn't care. She stared at the fabric of her tent. It was dark and almost like a void, consuming the weakening light. But she didn't care. Her blade was at her side, instead of on the ground, instead of the table. She tilted her head towards it. Dark thoughts began clouding her mind, constantly replaying the events of the past three days.

She placed a hand the hilt, slowly drawing the blade. Even in the dark, the Falchion glowed with a faint blue light. Enough that, if she focused, she could see her a shadow of her reflection. She hadn't bothered with healing herself from the last battle. Her hair was messy. She could see a couple of cuts on her face even with the lack of light.

Flames of anger and hatred grew in her and consumed her every thought, making her grit her teeth and tighten her grip on the blade.

Rage at the world for _being_ like _this_.

Rage at the gods for _letting_ all this _happen_.

Rage at her Father and Robin for being so _stubborn_.

Rage at the shepherds for _being not enough_.

Rage at herself for failing _everything_ and _everyone_.

Rage at Grima because no matter how hard she tried or how far she went, the _damn bastard __**just wouldn't DIE. **_

A hand gently laid itself on her shoulder. She snapped her head upwards. Sumia was kneeling in front of her. She was out of her pegasus armor and had a gentle smile on her face. And with that, the rage faded as her emotions just broke loose. Lucina threw herself into her mother's arms and sobbed away, occasionally mumbling her woes. Sumia just hugged her and let her vent, caressing her blue locks.

Mother and daughter ended up spending all night together in a loving embrace. Their enemies were now at their strongest. The final battle was nearing and the fate of thousands lied on their shoulders.

But for a few hours, Lucina felt like she was in the safest place in the world.

The final time she cried was a weird one.

It had been a few months since Grima had been defeated. What was left of the grimleal had been scattered and the shepherds were now on their way home. However, while the goal had been completed, the price paid had been steep. Perhaps too much.

Once they entered the country of Yllise, the army made one final camp before the march that would bring them home. The adrenalin was now long gone, and general peaceful atmosphere had settled on camp. Of course, with a lingering somberness.

Once again finding herself with time, Lucina decided to take a walk around camp. Fields of grass covered the land, alongside the occasional patch of trees. She saw the couples that now were free to be together without the pressure of the war and smiled. She thought of meeting her Father, but he and Lissa and going out for a small walk.

She walked past the store. She saw Anna and Morgan rummaging inside. Neither of them was smiling. She couldn't blame them.

Walking outside, she managed to get far enough that could see the camp at a distance. Seeing a single, lonely tree on the distance, she decided to lay against it. Time flowed with its usual pace, but she didn't bother to keep track of it. She stared at the camp and got lost in thought, reminiscing about her experiences.

And the felt her eyes moisten. She could feel a couple of tears, but they were small and gentle.

Tears for the world they had saved, and all of its people.

Tears for all the lives lost in the process. Comrades. Friends. Family.

Tears for the man who had to give his life to finish the job. How she would like to apologize to him.

And tears for herself, for all the suffering she endured, for all the effort that it took to achieve her goal, and for how now she could enjoy the world she had helped save.

She wiped her tears and took a deep breath.

With a smile, Lucina headed back to the camp.

* * *

"_I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are of evil._" - Gandalf the White, Return of the King.

Tried to do a more introspective piece. You guys decide if it worked.


End file.
